Blog: Social networking sites
I've checked out Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube... and here are my findings.
Social networking sites are notorious for advertising their ability to provide connections, but there are purposes and versions of connecting that differentiate them. For example: Facebook and LinkedIn run on similar platforms. Both involve friending/adding to your network. Both involve post sharing where the character limit is primarily unlimited. You can share videos, pictures, articles, etc. on any post, captioned with any caption. But their purposes are different. LinkedIn has always been referred to as the "Professional Facebook" and this holds true. You're expected to write complete sentences, use proper grammar (for the most part) and use it as a means of adding executives, managers, co-workers, etc.; rather, Facebook is for the personable. It is for friends, family and informal post-sharing. There's no need for a professional head shot or a resume in your about me.
But on the topic of formalities, Twitter takes on a similar purpose to Facebook in terms of professionalism. There's a lack of it. People have a free space to tweet about anything they want, to whomever they want (within public means, excluding private profiles) but with character limits. I think people also use Twitter as a way of not connecting, but sharing. Facebook is more about sharing for your friends list, but Twitter is sharing thoughts to whomever follows you. It is much more public and risque because you have the ability to tweet at someone like the President, or your Senator, or the CEO of Snapchat to evoke some response. Facebook is less of that, and more review sharing on public pages.
The most different of these social networking sites is YouTube. The medium used to communicate is so vastly different than typing out a post on LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook. It's through videos where content creators make a living from weekly episodes. It's much more monetized, but with it comes a stronger sense of scrutiny. There's an easier channel for commenters to spew hate or exhibit love because it's so public. With YouTube, you will hear from many creators that learning to deal with criticism and hate is part of popularity on the YouTube space, and this holds true because of it's unlimited influx of viewers. There is no time subjectivity like a news show at 7am; rather, these videos on YouTube can be subject to influxes are any time because of its availability. But this is still social networking. It's just more monetized and lacks one-to-one communication. An audience becomes a community, but the likelihood of connecting individually to your sister living abroad, or to Airbnb's tech support, or even a high ranking executive at Penguin Random House is cut out of the equation. It's a platform created for entertainment, with communication as a secondary function.
Regardless of the differences, the rise of social networking sites and applications continue to be an enigma. We don't know what other doors will open as these places continue to differentiate and become more niche. We don't know how far the technology will go in a year to see the changes in the sites of today. But it surely is interesting!
Social networking sites are notorious for advertising their ability to provide connections, but there are purposes and versions of connecting that differentiate them. For example: Facebook and LinkedIn run on similar platforms. Both involve friending/adding to your network. Both involve post sharing where the character limit is primarily unlimited. You can share videos, pictures, articles, etc. on any post, captioned with any caption. But their purposes are different. LinkedIn has always been referred to as the "Professional Facebook" and this holds true. You're expected to write complete sentences, use proper grammar (for the most part) and use it as a means of adding executives, managers, co-workers, etc.; rather, Facebook is for the personable. It is for friends, family and informal post-sharing. There's no need for a professional head shot or a resume in your about me.
But on the topic of formalities, Twitter takes on a similar purpose to Facebook in terms of professionalism. There's a lack of it. People have a free space to tweet about anything they want, to whomever they want (within public means, excluding private profiles) but with character limits. I think people also use Twitter as a way of not connecting, but sharing. Facebook is more about sharing for your friends list, but Twitter is sharing thoughts to whomever follows you. It is much more public and risque because you have the ability to tweet at someone like the President, or your Senator, or the CEO of Snapchat to evoke some response. Facebook is less of that, and more review sharing on public pages.
The most different of these social networking sites is YouTube. The medium used to communicate is so vastly different than typing out a post on LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook. It's through videos where content creators make a living from weekly episodes. It's much more monetized, but with it comes a stronger sense of scrutiny. There's an easier channel for commenters to spew hate or exhibit love because it's so public. With YouTube, you will hear from many creators that learning to deal with criticism and hate is part of popularity on the YouTube space, and this holds true because of it's unlimited influx of viewers. There is no time subjectivity like a news show at 7am; rather, these videos on YouTube can be subject to influxes are any time because of its availability. But this is still social networking. It's just more monetized and lacks one-to-one communication. An audience becomes a community, but the likelihood of connecting individually to your sister living abroad, or to Airbnb's tech support, or even a high ranking executive at Penguin Random House is cut out of the equation. It's a platform created for entertainment, with communication as a secondary function.
Regardless of the differences, the rise of social networking sites and applications continue to be an enigma. We don't know what other doors will open as these places continue to differentiate and become more niche. We don't know how far the technology will go in a year to see the changes in the sites of today. But it surely is interesting!
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